Williams Lake Dogs in Kelowna

The Kelowna SPCA is in need of extra donations these days to help care for 20 dogs that were seized from a property in Williams Lake last week. 46 dogs were taken away from the owner over concerns of animal abuse. The other dogs were taken to shelters in Quesnel and Penticton.

Kelowna shelter manager Sean Hogan says the dogs are all in various social stages right now. "From being incredibly fearful to people...won't really let us come near them or touch them, to a couple of the dogs showing more interest now that we've been working with them for a few days. These dogs have a lot of psychological distress that they're up against and it's going to take a long time to really see outcomes change more favourable for them."

The dogs are a mix of American Eskimo, Husky, Border Collie and Samoyed-cross breeds.

Hogan is not sure how long the dogs will be under the care of the SPCA. "People do have the right to dispute the seizure and I believe that is going to happen for sure. That always makes the time that they're in our care 3 to 6 weeks sometimes."

For those looking to adopt one of the dogs, should the owner lose their dispute, it may be quite some time. Hogan says staff at the kelowna SPCA are just focusing on getting over those socialization hurdles first.